


Friends Don't

by shamelessarrogantthoughts



Category: Wynonna Earp (TV)
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-27
Updated: 2018-12-27
Packaged: 2019-09-28 06:50:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,500
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17177978
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/shamelessarrogantthoughts/pseuds/shamelessarrogantthoughts
Summary: Waverly and Nicole have 'officially' been singing together for well over two years now. They’ve been all around the US on tour and are playing their last show in Oklahoma this Friday.Home. They’ll finally be going home.To honor this occasion they set out to finish a song they started when they graduated high school in 2006 after what can only be described as years of an increasingly "frustrating friendship".The only problem is, this might bring about a few too many locked-away feelings for the duo. After all, professionalism is essential when you’re in a band with the love of your life, right? Plus, their chemistry sells well.Listen to Friends Don't by Maddie & Tae and imagine Waverly (Maddie) and Nicole (Tae) singing. Trust me.





	Friends Don't

**TOUR BUS, 2014**

 

“Alright then, Waves. Where do we start?” Nicole moved across the brunette’s bedroom that they had conveniently turned into a mini studio. Now, don’t get your imagination going, it was just their humble work laptop, a microphone, a compact mixer and Nicole’s guitar. Nicole had always been better at playing guitar. She was the soul and structure of all their songs, while Waverly was the lyrics and melody.

Life on the road was stressful at times. That much is for sure. Yet, their mornings were some of Waverly’s favorite. Nicole would always bring her freshly brewed green mint tea and pour herself a cup of black coffee. Every morning they would just sit and catch up for what felt like hours while sipping on their drinks until they had to go do a rehearsal or interviews. They’d never missed a morning. Even when Nicole had been on a date and not come back until early the next morning, or when Waverly had met up with Champ and stayed with him at some hotel in town, they always seemed to prioritize this time together. It was sacred.

And just like every other morning, here they were again. The only thing was that this time they had to try to bring life to an old song.

“I was thinking about it last night actually and I was thinking that if we just get your old notebook out and look at the lyrics you wrote back then. Then I’ll sing it and you can play a few standard chords. Then we can see where it goes from there?” Waverly suggested while wrapping her cold hands around her mug. “I actually can’t believe we finally get to work on one of your songs” she added with a smug grin. She knew Nicole had never liked her own songwriting claiming her songs always ended up sounding cheesy and too catchy.

Nicole just rolled her eyes. “Don’t get your hopes up. I can assure this ain’t gon’ turn out good” she slurred while grabbing her guitar and sitting down on the bed.

“Alright, let’s see.” Nicole opened her old notebook and quickly, almost frantically, flipped through the pages until she got to her entry on May 2006. Nicole gasped when she noticed the note she’d written before the actual song. “Shit” she muttered under her breath.

_I wrote her a fucking song. That’s how pathetic I am…_

Waverly moved over to the bed and leaned towards the notebook . “What is it? You can’t find it?” Nicole quickly shut the notebook and threw it away. “Nope. No idea where it’s gone”

Waverly moved to pick up the notebook but a hand stopped her pushing her on the bed instead. “Woah there lady. Not so fast. That’s private stuff in there” Nicole agued while gently tickling Waverly’s sides. Waverly squirmed in her arms and shoved her away “Alright alright! Jesus. You’d think I didn’t already know everything about you with how weird you’re being” She sat back up and stared at the redhead. “Well then, smartass. What do we do then? We still need to produce something before Friday” Nicole turned around and grabbed her mug to take another sip. She needed something stronger for this shit. Who even decided they had to start this at 9 in the morning anyway? “I’ll uh…” she said looking over at Waverly, “I’ll try to find it in one of my other notebooks later. For now let’s just catch up, okay?” Waverly shrugged and sat more comfortably against the wall “Sure.”

It had been a couple of hours and Waverly had left to do a fitting. One of the dresses she usually wore for their show was starting to look a bit dull so they had sent it away to get some adjustments before the big show on Friday.

As soon as she left Nicole scrambled to the floor and picked the notebook back up quickly flicking to that damn page again. Yup, there it was. Staring at her. Her most private confessions. If she was being honest, it wasn’t just _that_ page. That entire damn notebook was filled with little scribbles about her not so platonic friend Waverly Earp. Nicole rubbed her face in frustration as she re-read the entry.

_I wrote her a fucking song. That’s how pathetic I am. I guess it’s a good thing she’ll never know it’s about her. She’ll think I wrote it about Shae. I’m just gonna be completely honest because she won’t ever hear it anyway and I just need to fucking get her outta my head already._

“Yeah that didn’t exactly help, now did it Nicole Rayleigh Haught?” she huffed out at her past self. The page was crumbled and old. It had beer stains and cigarrete burns. It even smelled a little bit like heartbreak.

_They don’t cancel other plans_

_Have conversations with nothing but their eyes_

_They don't hear each other's names and forget to concentrate_

_Hits a nerve and lights you up like dynamite_

 

She rolled her eyes. “See? Cheesy and too catchy”

 

_Friends don’t call in the middle of the night_

_Couldn’t even tell you why_

_They just felt like sayin’ hi_

_Friends don't stand around, playing with their keys_

_Finding reasons not to leave_

_Trying to hide the chemistry_

_Drive a little too slow, take the long way home_

_Get a little too close_

_We do, but friends don’t_

She threw the notebook back to the floor and rubbed her eyes “Oh my god, Nicole just shut up. Just shut up.”

Waverly’s voice suddenly interrupted her self-loathing. “What’s going on? Are you okay?” Nicole looked up and opened her arms to the girl who was quickly walking towards her. “Yeah. Sorry. I’m just a little tired. I’m excited to go home soon. I think I need a break” Waverly looked up at her and scrunched her face up in confusion. Nicole met her gaze and saw the hurt and fear in her eyes. “From me?” she asked while hiding her face back in Nicole’s chest. Nicole couldn’t help the laugh that escaped her. It was just ridiculous. “I don’t think you’ll ever have to worry about that, Waves” she said while squeezing her a little tighter. “You mean again” she corrected. Nicole exhaled and laced her finger under Waverly’s chin bringing her gaze back up to hers “Waves…” she began before the brunette interrupted her “No. Don’t. It’s okay. You’re here now.” She closed her eyes and inhaled deeply. And then it was all Nicole. Tall, strong and absolutely gorgeous Nicole. She was home. “You’re my best friend Nic. Have I told you that before?” Nicole’s arms loosened for a second before she could composed herself and smile down at Waverly. That was a blow. It always was. Friends. Best friends. They were best friends. She was Waverly Earp’s best friend while Champ Hardy was her boyfriend. “I’m gonna go talk to Doc and then see if I can find that notebook. I’ll see you later?” She asked while moving away and heading towards the other end of the bus. “Yeah” She barely heard Waverly’s reply before she was out of the bus. She didn’t miss the hint of disappointment in her voice, though. It wasn’t like Nicole to just up and leave on their day off but she just needed some space to clear her head.

 

All these memories from high school stung. The feelings had never left her. How she felt about Waverly. But they had subsided after graduating. Nicole had spent the summer after in New York, as far away from Waverly as possible. She just couldn’t do it anymore. So she left and didn’t come back for years. It was a sore topic between the two friends. After days of not hearing from her friend Waverly had gone to look for her. It was Nicole’s dad that ended up telling her that she was gone. At first she didn’t believe it. She wholeheartedly believed that the redhead had been half-joking when she had told her about her plans. She was hurt. Then, she was furious. Then, she was hurt again. She tried calling Nicole but her pathetic excuse of a best friend had of course changed her number before leaving. She had mentioned that she wanted to cut ties with everything back in Purgatory, Waverly just never thought that she would be included. So after crying her soul out for weeks she was numb and set on erasing the redhead from her life. Anything Nicole had to go. Nicole assumed that much. She understood that. I mean, what kind of friend just up and leaves without much but a lame excuse. Nicole had told Waverly that she was going to go New York for the summer to work on her music. That she needed a change in scenery. Waverly had offered to go with her but Nicole had been quick to turn her down explaining that she needed to figure out who she was and what her music meant without the brunette. It was mean and she knew that but she also knew that she wouldn’t have been able to push her away if she hadn’t been so bold. Waverly was incredibly persistent and rarely took no for an answer. This time, though, she was done. She was done with Nicole’s excuses and her not so subtle efforts to avoid her in the months up to graduation. Ever since she started dating Champ, Nicole had been distant. Not that it mattered. She didn’t need her anyway. So she moved on. She worked at the Shorty’s for the summer and spent the days with Champ. When Nicole didn’t come back when the summer ended, Waverly knew it was over. She’d probably never hear from or see the redhead again. The first year was hard. Everything reminded her of Nicole. Then slowly, all their little rituals, their routines and companionship slowly faded away. After 14 month it was almost like they had never existed in the first place. The human soul has an incredible ability to repair itself. After 3 years Nicole was nothing but a distant memory and she remained that way. 

 

Nicole Rayleigh Haught didn’t set foot again in Purgatory, Oklahoma until August of2012 when the redhead had decided it was about time to go home. 

 

-

Nicole walked on stage and looked out into the empty arena. She couldn’t believe tour was almost over. It had been such a long time since both girls had gone back to their home town. Lord knows Gus and Curtis were going to be there for their show on Friday. They wouldn’t miss it for the world. As for Nicole’s dad, Jack had moved away from the town a year after Nicole had moved out. He figured there wasn’t anything left for him there with Nicole gone.

“You alright there, cowgirl?” came Doc’s drawl. It was such an uplifting sound. Doc’s accent was a reminder of home. Wherever they went, when the girls got homesick, or Wynonna told them to stop sounding like they weren’t born and raised country girls, they’d just talk to Doc and everything would go back to normal. “Yeah. Yeah.” Nicole approached him. “I’m just thinking it’s crazy we’re almost done, you know?” Doc laughed and nodded. “It’ll sure be good to be able to go down to Shorty’s for dinner and drinks on Friday.” Nicole smiled at the memory of the little bar. “Absolutely.” She put her stetson back on, “Anyway, I should go find Waves. We still haven’t even started producing that song yet” she looked down and shook her head. “But it’s Wednesday” Doc scolded. Nicole looked up and was met with a disapproving look. “Hey! we tried to get going this morning but then…” she stopped herself and bit down on her lip. Doc frowned and started to walk away “I don’t care, Haught. Just get it done.” And with that he was gone. Nicole shook her head again and took a deep breath before making her way back towards the bus.

 

-

 

“Waves?” Nicole tried but nothing came back at her. “Waverly?” she tried again but when she entered the bedroom Waverly was nowhere to be seen. “Hm. Oh well, I’ll just start on my own then.” She had gone to her own bus and fetched another notebook and written the song lyrics in it. It was better that way. She poured herself another cup of coffee and lit a smoke. Yeah she smoked once in a while. So what? It was better than smoking regularly. And no. Not smoking was not an option. She looked down at the notebook and tried to remember the melody she had thought about all those years ago. She began humming and tuning her guitar. She took a drag and a sip. As she exhaled the smoke she started picking at the strings.

“ _They don’t cancel other plans_ ” she sang softly. “ _Have conversations with nothing but their eyes_ ” She stopped and took another drag. “ _They don't hear each other's names and forget to concentrate hits a nerve and lights you up like dynamite_ ” Another drag. She exhaled and took another drag for good measure before moving on to full-on strumming. “ _Friends don’t call you in the middle of the night, couldn’t even tell you why, they just felt like sayin’ hi_ ”. “ _Friends don't stand around, playing with their keys, finding reasons not to leave, trying to hide the chemistry_ ”.

“Doesn’t sound cheesy to me.” She heard Waverly interrupt from the door. Nicole looked up and smirked “ _Drive a little too slow, take the long way home, get a little too close, we do, but friends don’t_ ” she sang while smiling. “What about now?” Waverly laughed but stood her ground “Nope. I actually think it’s really good, Nic.” Nicole smiled, radiating nothing but humbleness and waved the girl over. “Thanks, Waves.” Waverly took Nicole’s guitar and sat down “What’re the chords? Maybe I can play and you can sing with this one” Nicole looked at her like she had just suggested that she sing lead “What? No! I can’t. Plus, I really want you to sing it.” Waverly smiled at her and handed the guitar back over to Nicole. Nicole began picking the strings again while Waverly settled and pulled the almost finished bud to her mouth. “Thought you’d quit” Waverly smiled while inhaling the musky smoke. “Hmm” she moaned at the taste. “I mean I wouldn’t blame you if you didn’t. This is so damn good” At the redhead’s lack of response Waverly looked up and found a wide-eyed Nicole. “What?” Nicole blinked her eyes and stuttered something close to words “I.. uh.. hmm. I.. What?” Waverly just frowned and took one last drag before putting the cigarette out. “Whatever, weirdo. Let’s get this done, shall we?” Nicole nodded and readjusted her grip on the guitar.

Nicole you are so thoroughly fucked you don’t even know what hit you.


End file.
